Public Service Broadcasting

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on the Ofcom report on public service broadcasting in Wales.

Don Touhig: My right hon. Friend and I have regular discussions with Ministerial colleagues about matters affecting Wales. Ofcom's report addresses the changes necessary to protect Public Service Broadcasting in the run up to the digital age, and in particular in maintaining the plurality of service in the nations and regions.

Asian Tsunami

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether he has had discussions with the governments of the tsunami-affected countries about the representation of women on their tsunami reconstruction panels and task forces.

Hilary Benn: I have not had any discussions with the governments of tsunami-affected countries specifically about the representations of women on tsunami reconstruction panels and task forces. However, the Department for International Development (DFID) is working to ensure that the international response to the tsunami, which is being led by the affected governments and international organisations such as the UN and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), focus on helping the poorest people and those often marginalized because of gender, caste, age, ethnicity or religion.
	For example, donors and the Government of Sri Lanka have agreed a set of Guiding Principles for post-tsunami relief and recovery. These provide the framework for all Government and donor initiatives and stipulate that the allocation of resources should be strictly guided by identified needs and local priorities, without discrimination on the basis of political, religious, ethnic or gender considerations. The Task Forces will include Government, civil society, private sector and donor representatives and will reflect gender concerns. In India, we are actively engaging with the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to ensure that social inclusion and gender issues are central to the reconstruction and livelihoods work that they will be funding.

International Conference on Population and Development

Parmjit Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the plan of action arising from the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD); and what steps the UK Government is taking to help achieve the goals of the ICPD programme.

Hilary Benn: The UK Government remain firmly committed to the Cairo Programme of Action (POA) and its key goal of reproductive health for all by 2015. The UK believes that sexual and reproductive health are also fundamental human rights. DFID5s recently published position paper on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights makes this position clear and we continue to invest strongly in reproductive health, such as recent multi-year increases in funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the International Planned Parenthood Foundation (IPPF).
	Progress on the POA has been made since 1994. The recent regional International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) plus 10 celebratory events in Asia and Latin America strongly demonstrated country ownership and commitment to the Cairo POA and how this has become a platform for real policy change at country level. The UK Government have also advocated vigorously to maintain the ICPD consensus within the UN and elsewhere. Tony Blair was the first Head of State to sign the World Leaders Statement in support of ICPD plus 10. DFID also continues to support country programmes via budgetary support and project funding to NGOs, and agencies such as the Global Fund, active in reproductive health supply security.
	The UK believes that sexual and reproductive health and rights are fundamental to attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Progress towards the attainment of the goals is currently being reviewed. The Sachs Millennium Project Review and accompanying Task Force Reports, all emphasise the importance of reproductive health and rights to the attainment of the MDGs. Access to reproductive health, a key feature of the Cairo POA, is identified within the main Sachs report as one of the "quick wins"—solutions to implement now for speeding efforts to reduce poverty. DFID is therefore working with like-minded EU member states to ensure that positive reproductive health and rights messages strongly appear in the Secretary-General's report which is due in March.

St. Helena

John MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the progress of the establishment of an airport on St Helena.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: Options to maintain future access for St. Helena are under consideration. Decisions will be taken, in consultation with the St. Helena Government, as soon as it is possible to do so.

Contaminated Land

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  how much financial assistance has been given to meet the capital costs of site investigation and clean up of contaminated land in each of the last three years (a) in total and (b) broken down by local authority; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  how much has been given to local authorities through the Contaminated Land Supplementary Credit Approval programme in each of the last three years; which authorities have received funding through this programme; how local authorities' expenditure through the programme is monitored; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  what sites of contaminated land have been (a) investigated and (b) cleaned up under the auspices of (i) local authorities and (ii) the Environment Agency in each of the last three years; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: Tables A-D will be made available in the Library of the House. Support to local authorities given under Defra's Contaminated Land capital projects programme is shown in Table A. The Environment Agency's Contaminated Land capital programme is shown at Table B, with an indication of the local authority area involved. Figures for 2004–05 are not yet available.
	Under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, investigation is undertaken to decide whether or not land is "contaminated land" as defined. Investigations also take place in other contexts and central records are not kept. Information about "clean-up" is only available where Defra and Environment Agency funding programmes are involved and is shown in Tables C1–3 and D. This includes work in progress.
	Under the Defra programme successful authorities are required to provide mid financial year progress reports. Final returns, certified by the authority's Chief Finance Officer, are provided at the end of the financial year showing actual expenditure incurred on each project. Full details of our monitoring requirements are set out in "A Guide for English Local Authorities" which is made available to each authority.

Contaminated Land

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what financial assistance she makes available to local authorities to compensate residents living on contaminated land where the owners of the land have gone into liquidation; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  if she will make a statement on compensation from local authorities for residents living on contaminated land.

Elliot Morley: Under Part MA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 local authorities are under a statutory duty to inspect their areas to identify contaminated land as defined in the Act, and to secure its remediation in accordance with the detailed provisions of the regime. DETR Circular 02/2000 "Contaminated Land" contains statutory guidance including detailed liability rules as to who is the appropriate person(s) to bear responsibility for remediation. In line with the polluter-pays principle, this is normally the person who caused or knowingly permitted the presence of the substances causing the problem. Where this person cannot be found, for example because the company no longer exits or has gone into liquidation, the landowner may be the appropriate person, subject to the Act and guidance.
	The Act recognises that, particularly in the case of private individuals owning land, costs of remediation might cause hardship. Section 78P(2) of the Act requires local authorities to have regard to hardship and to statutory guidance when serving remediation notices, or recovering costs, and there is provision for remediation costs to be waived or reduced in certain circumstances. Charging notices may be used in certain cases to recover costs where local authorities carry out remediation on behalf of appropriate persons, which allows recovery to be deferred until land is sold. The regime does not provide compensation to any individuals, unless they are required to grant rights in order that remediation can be carried out.

Energy Conservation

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Government has spent on energy conservation in (a) York and (b) Yorkshire in each year since 1996–97.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 23 February 2005
	Defra currently provides grant funding for energy efficiency through four main routes. These organisations or programmes undertake work at a national or UK level. Previous to 2001 some of the activities undertaken by the Carbon Trust and Energy Saving Trust were carried out under the Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme which was also UK wide. The Trusts' programmes have no specific levels of funding attributed to particular regions and therefore no figures for these programmes are given as follows:
	The Warm Front programme—to provide energy efficiency measures to the vulnerable.
	The Community Energy programme—capital and development funding to refurbish existing and install new community heating schemes.
	The Carbon Trust—to support and promote energy efficiency and low carbon innovation for business and public sector.
	The Energy Saving Trust—to support and promote energy efficiency in the household sector.
	Warm Front
	The total annual estimated expenditure on energy efficiency measures under the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme in the City of York and North Yorkshire from June 1997 to May 2000 was:
	
		
			£ 
		
		
			  City of York North Yorkshire 
			 1996–97 177,000 1,180,000 
			 1997–98 97,000 4,955,000 
			 1998–99 202,000 5,332,000 
			 1999–2000 82,000 6,234,000 
		
	
	From the launch of the new Home Energy Efficiency Scheme now known as Warm Front in June 2000 until the end of January 2005 the total approximate expenditure for these areas was:
	
		
			   £ 
			  City of York North Yorkshire 
			 2000–01 46,000 2,980,000 
			 2001–02 176,000 18,500.000 
			 2002–03 233,000 19,500,000 
			 2003–04 112,000 15,890,000 
			 2004–05 (Up to end of January 2005) 81,000 17,000,000 
		
	
	Note:
	The figures quoted for North Yorkshire include the following areas East Riding, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Kingston upon Hull.
	Community Energy programme
	There has been no programme spend in York, but the Yorkshire spend figures are as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 1996–02 (1)— 
			 2002–03 No spend 
			 2003–04 53,000 
			 2004–05 (2)33,000 
		
	
	(1) Programme not up and running until 2002–03.
	(2) To date.

EU Committees

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch Presidency of the EU the Management Committee on application of the Directive on the standardisation and rationalisation of reports on the implementation of certain Directives relating to the environment met; when and where these meetings took place; which UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: During the Irish, Italian and Dutch Presidencies in 2003 and 2004 there were no Management Committee meetings on this issue. The Management Committee on the application of the "Standardised Reporting" Directive (91/692/EEC) last met in 1997. In 2002 the Commission started work on a new framework for environmental reporting in response to the 6th Environment Action Programme. An Expert Group was set up to discuss Commission proposals for a Directive. This group last met in October 2002. There is as yet no formal proposal for a Directive, and no Management Committee has been convened. In the event of any meeting being scheduled, officials will, as a matter of course, liaise with their counterparts in the Scottish Executive and the other devolved Administrations.

Fallen Stock

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what mechanisms are in place to monitor the National Fallen Stock Scheme.

Ben Bradshaw: The National Fallen Stock Company (NFSCo) which is running the Scheme has government representation on its Board to ensure that government funding is spent properly. In addition NFSCo is subject to the normal financial and audit controls which apply to a Limited Company. With regard to the operation of the Scheme the Company actively seeks feedback from its members on the service provided and records are kept of calls to the helpline and of complaints received to inform improvements to service provision. NFSCo has also engaged the State Veterinary Service to inspect collection premises and vehicles to enable compliance with Scheme rules, in particular in relation to biosecurity.

Foot and Mouth

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  which countries are recorded as having endemic foot and mouth disease;
	(2)  what steps are taken to prevent direct or indirect imports from countries which have endemic foot and mouth disease.

Ben Bradshaw: Defra does not hold separately, a list of countries that are recorded as having endemic foot and mouth disease (FMD). The internationally recognised central source for official information on the distribution of animal diseases such as FMD is the Office International des Epizooties (OIE). Also known as the World Organisation for Animal Health, the OIE is the world organisation responsible for the collection and dissemination of information on international animal health—it has a role analogous to the World Health Organisation (WHO):
	Information on FMD can be found on their website, at the following address: http://www.oie.int/eng/info/en fmd.htm.
	Rather than listing countries in which FMD is considered to be endemic, the OIE lists countries and regions that are considered to be free of FMD, broken down into those that are free and do not vaccinate; and those that are free and do vaccinate against the disease.
	European Community legislation permits the importation of meat from certain countries where FMD is present, but only where the disease is officially recognised as being restricted to specific areas and effective movement controls are in place within the country. Imports are permitted either from parts of the country that are free of disease or under strict conditions that ensure the meat does not come from any animal that may have come in contact with FMD before, during and after slaughter. These provisions are in line with the guidelines established by the OIE.
	All meat imported from third countries must be accompanied by veterinary certification. This must confirm that the meat is derived from animals which have been subjected to a veterinary inspection during the 24 hours prior to slaughter and showed no signs of FMD.
	Community legislation does not permit imports of livestock (cattle, sheep, pigs and goats) from countries with FMD.
	If there is an outbreak of disease likely to present a risk to human or animal health, Community legislation allows us to take appropriate safeguard action, which may include a ban on imports of animals and animal products from all, or parts, of that country.
	All meat and animals imported into the EU from third countries must enter at designated border inspection posts where they are subject to veterinary inspections. All consignments are subject to documentary and identity checks. At least 20 per cent. of consignments of animal products undergo physical checks, and a number of animals in each consignment are physically checked. These checks ensure import conditions are met.
	For personal imports meat and dairy products are banned from most countries outside the EU. Customs are responsible for enforcement at the border. Defra and Customs undertake publicity campaigns to make the public aware of the rules relating to personal food imports.

Foot and Mouth

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  whether the contiguous cull used in the last foot and mouth outbreak would be implemented in a future outbreak;
	(2)  whether vaccines would be used in a future outbreak of foot and mouth disease.

Ben Bradshaw: The decision tree published as part of the foot and mouth disease (FMD) contingency plan on the Defra website sets out the factors that the Government would take into account in deciding disease control strategy including vaccination or different approaches to culling in a future outbreak. The disease control strategy adopted will depend on many factors.
	The EU directive gives greater prominence to the potential use of emergency vaccination in the event of an outbreak as an adjunct to this basic slaughter policy. Article 14 of the directive places a duty on member states "to prepare all arrangements necessary for emergency vaccination in an area at least the size of the Surveillance Zone" as soon as the first case of FMD is confirmed.
	The Government will consider emergency vaccination as a disease control option from the start of any outbreak of FMD on the basis of vaccinate to live. The vaccines held by the UK are suitable for use in emergency vaccination. This is in line with the recommendations of the main FMD inquiries. The circumstances in which vaccination might be used are illustrated in the vaccination scenarios published last year on the Defra website.
	The decision tree makes it clear that other forms of culling beyond that on infected premises and dangerous contacts are not ruled out.

Free Trade

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact on biodiversity in developing countries of allowing free trade in agricultural products.

Elliot Morley: In 2004 my Department commissioned a review of the literature on the implications of trade liberalisation for sustainable development, which included an initial assessment of the impact on biodiversity in developing countries of freer trade in agricultural products. The report, "The Implications of Trade and Investment Liberalisation for Sustainable Development: Review of Literature", is available on the Defra website.
	The Department subsequently has commissioned new research which will include further assessment of the impact on biodiversity of trade liberalisation in agricultural products. The report is expected to be published this July.
	In addition, the European Commission has released recently its draft sustainability impact assessment on agriculture which includes a more comprehensive assessment of the impact on biodiversity of freer trade in agricultural products. The draft report is available on the website of the Institute for Development Policy and Management at Manchester University.
	The assessments carried out to date show that the impacts on biodiversity of liberalising trade in agricultural products depend upon a range of factors, including the location and type of agricultural activity being undertaken. However, the assessments suggest that there could be negative impacts on biodiversity in some areas and hence a need to develop policies to mitigate any such impacts.

Game Birds

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will seek to legislate to ensure that game birds are reared in humane conditions.

Ben Bradshaw: Under the Protection of Animals Act 1911 it is already an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to a domestic or captive animal in the keeping of man, this includes game birds that are being kept for rearing.
	The proposed Animal Welfare Bill would allow certain animal related activities to be regulated by use of secondary legislation. It is proposed that game bird rearing should be subject to a government code of practice to help secure the welfare of the birds.
	The Animal Welfare Bill will also introduce an offence of failing to promote the welfare of an animal kept by man. The duty to promote welfare will apply to those responsible for captive game birds.

Game Birds

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will consult interested groups which are critical of current game bird rearing practices; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The proposed Animal Welfare Bill would allow certain animal related activities to be regulated. It is proposed that game bird rearing should be subject to government codes of practice made under the Bill. Any proposals will be subject to wide consultation.

Timber

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will take steps to include social criteria in the UK's timber procurement policy.

Elliot Morley: A key objective of the UK Government's timber procurement policy is to encourage the protection of forest dependent peoples' rights and enhance their well-being. By requiring its contractors to supply only timber that has been legally harvested and by preferring timber grown in sustainably managed forests, the Government is helping to achieve this outcome in many producing countries.
	The EU public procurement directives ensure that public bodies conduct their procurement in a fair and transparent manner, do not discriminate or create barriers to trade and obtain value for money for taxpayers. In line with the above requirements, the criteria for selecting bidders must be limited to their capacity and ability to supply the product or service, and the criteria for specifying requirements must be limited to relevant technical, quality and performance characteristics that can be objectively measured and priced. The criteria can include relevant manufacturing processes and that enables forest management standards that affect the product to be specified. Protecting and conserving a product's raw material is relevant, measurable and a reasonable demand to make of a contractor. Protecting and conserving the rights and socio-economic well-being of forest dependent people is not something a contractor based in another country could be reasonably expected to undertake. Such social and ethical issues are beyond the capacity of suppliers to control, measure and price. Furthermore, the introduction of non product related issues into contracts would enable contracting authorities to choose their suppliers on the basis of subjective judgements that would jeopardize the fairness and openness that have served the public procurement process so well for many decades.
	A public authority can refuse to invite tenders from suppliers who have been convicted of an offence or grave professional misconduct in relation to the conduct of their business and that could include offences relating to the treatment of forest dependent people. Any such refusal would have to be proportionate to the offence.

Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment she has made of progress towards the Public Service Agreement target to increase the percentage of school children who spend a minimum of two hours each week on high quality PE and school sport from 25 per cent. in 2002 to 75 per cent. in 2006.

Derek Twigg: Progress in delivering the Public Service Agreement target—which the Department for Education and Skills shares with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport—is monitored annually via the national PE, School Sport and Club Links survey. This is the largest and most comprehensive survey of school sport in England.
	Good progress is being made. The 2003/04 survey, in which over 6,500 schools took part, showed that 62 per cent. of children were spending two hours in a typical week on high quality PE and school sport within and beyond the curriculum. The survey results were published on 29 April 2004 and a copy of the report "The Impact of School Sport Partnerships: The Results of the 2003/04 PE, School Sports and Club Links Survey" has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
	Schools will take part in the 2004/05 survey between May and July this year and the results will be published later in the year.

Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment she has made of whether the Public Service Agreement target to improve the basic skills levels of 2.25 million adults by 2010 will be met.

Ivan Lewis: The Government reported in December 2004 that it had been successful in meeting its Public Service Agreement (PSA) target to improve the literacy, language and numeracy skills of 750,000 adults by 2004. The most recent estimates show 827,000 adults have attained at least one qualification in literacy, numeracy or language since the launch of "Skills for Life" in 2001. Due to continued commitment and development of the Skills for Life Strategy we remain confident that we are on track to meet the challenging 2010 target of improving the literacy, language and numeracy skills of 2.25 million adults.

Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the Public Service Agreement target for at least 28 per cent. of young people to start a modern apprenticeship by age 22 by 2004 was met.

Ivan Lewis: This is a 2004/05 academic year PSA target against which we are due to measure progress in July 2005. In the last full academic year 2003/04 the proportion of young people starting an apprenticeship had risen to 24.8 per cent.

Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether, in accordance with the Public Service Agreement's targets for minimum performance and value for money have been set for further education colleges; and whether these targets have been met.

Ivan Lewis: The Public Service Agreement committed Government to set minimum performance and value for money targets for further education colleges. The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) set the minimum performance targets in May 2003. Each college has been set a minimum standard for learner achievement. Success rates are continuing to improve in colleges and we expect every college to meet or exceed the minimum standard by 2006. On latest data, the percentage of Further Education and Sixth Form Colleges below this standard (for both short and long qualifications) has fallen from 30 per cent. in 2000/01 to 15 per cent. in 2002/03.
	Value for money targets for colleges have not yet been set. The Department and LSC will develop and trial new value for money indicators during 2005/06 and implement new measures from 2006/07.

Targets

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment she has made of whether the Public Service Agreement target to improve the basic skills levels of 1.5 million adults will be met by 2007.

Ivan Lewis: The Government reported in December 2004 that it had been successful in meeting its Public Service Agreement (PSA) target to improve the literacy, language and numeracy skills of 750,000 adults by 2004. The most recent estimates show 827,000 adults have attained at least one qualification in literacy, numeracy or language since the launch of "Skills for Life" in 2001. Due to continued commitment and development of the Skills for Life strategy we remain confident that we are on track to meet the challenging 2007 target of improving the literacy, language and numeracy skills of 1.5 million adults.

Correspondence

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to reply to the letter of the hon. Member for Birkenhead of 4 February regarding the tax credits of his constituent Mr. Williams.

Dawn Primarolo: I understand that the Inland Revenue has replied to the hon. Member.
	They aim to reply to 80 per cent. of correspondence within 15 working days and 95 per cent. within 40 working days.

Correspondence

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to reply to the letter of the hon. Member for Birkenhead of 9 February regarding the tax credits of his constituent Mrs. Smith.

Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue have told me that they will be replying to the right hon. Member very shortly.
	They aim to reply to 80 per cent. of correspondence within 15 working days, and 95 per cent, within 40 working days.

Health Expenditure

Iain Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the per capita spending on health in each year since 1997 was in (a) England, (b) the North East and (c) Hartlepool.

Paul Boateng: Expenditure based on individual constituencies is not available. The closest match for Hartlepool is Tees health authority area, and its successor County Durham and Tees Valley strategic health authority. Public expenditure per capita on health in these areas, in the North East and in England is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 £ 
			  England North East Tees health authority County Durham and Tees valley strategic health authority 
		
		
			 1997–98 710 586 556 n/a 
			 1998–99 750 635 623 n/a 
			 1999–00 820 749 771 n/a 
			 2000–01 890 796 824 n/a 
			 2001–02 990 879 858 n/a 
			 2002–03 1,120 995 n/a 991 
			 2003–04 1,280 1,081 n/a 1,075 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Public spending on health per capita in England will always appear higher because many areas of health expenditure are funded centrally and are not factored into local health authority spending. These include medical research, the funding of Special Health Authorities, NDPBs and some central budgets.
	2. Expenditure per capita for health authorities and the North East is taken from audited health authority summarisation forms and primary care trust summarisation schedules that are prepared on a resource basis and therefore differ from cash allocations in the year. Weighted capitation figures are used to determine expenditure per capita—these are population figures that are weighted to reflect differing needs. Figures are given in cash terms.
	3. Figures for 1997–98 to 2001–02 have been prepared using gross expenditure figures. Figures for 2002–03 and 2003–04 have been adjusted to eliminate expenditure that would be double counted where an authority acts as a lead in commissioning healthcare or other services.

Law and Order Expenditure

Iain Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the per capita spending on law and order was in each year since 1997 in (a) England and Wales, (b) the North East and (c) Hartlepool.

Stephen Timms: The information is as follows:
	Spending in England and Wales
	To enable proper comparison to other regions, the following data shows total per capita spending on Public Order and Safety that can be identified as spending for a region within England and Wales. This is different from total per capita-spending as it excludes expenditure that cannot be identified as spending for a region.
	
		
			   £ 
			  England Wales 
		
		
			 1998–99 246 240 
			 1999–2000 245 237 
			 2000–01 265 260 
			 2001–02 300 295 
			 2002–03 323 320 
		
	
	Source:
	Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis 2004, ONS Population Data
	Spending in the North East
	Per capita spending on Public Order and Safety in the North East is outlined as follows. This shows only expenditure that can be identified as spending for the North East.
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 1998–99 279 
			 1999–2000 301 
			 2000–01 319 
			 2000–02 345 
			 2002–03 387 
		
	
	Source:
	Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis 2004
	Figures are not provided for 1997–98 as there are not comparable sources of data across all of these fields for this year.
	Data is collected on the basis of "Public Order and Safety" as HMT functional analyses are based on the UN standard classification of the functions of Government. Public Order and Safety includes police, fire, administration of justice, prison and offender programmes and immigration and citizenship.
	Regional data for 2003–04 will be announced in PESA 2005 later this year.
	Data is not held for spending in Hartlepool.
	Further information can be found in PESA 2004 (Table 8.10) and a full definition of identifiable and non-identifiable spending can be found in paragraph 8.15 of PESA 2004.

MRSA

Chris Grayling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many recorded deaths from MRSA there have been in the East Elmbridge and Mid Surrey area in each of the past five years.

Stephen Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Chris Grayling, dated 2 March 2005
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many recorded deaths from MRSA there have been in the East Elmbridge and Mid Surrey area in each of the past five years. (219408)
	The latest year for which figures are available is 2003. Numbers of deaths where MRSA was a contributory factor are given in the table below.
	
		Number of deaths where MRSA was a contributory factor,(8) East Elmbridge and Mid Surrey Primary Care Trust, 1999–2003(9)
		
			  Number of deaths where MRSA was a contributory factor 
		
		
			 1999 (10)— 
			 2000 (10)— 
			 2001 5 
			 2002 (10)— 
			 2003 (10)— 
		
	
	(8) Identified using the methodology described in Griffiths C, Lamagni TL, Crowcroft NS, Duckworth G and Rooney C (2004) Trends in MRSA in England and Wales: analysis of morbidity and mortality data for 1993–2002. "Health Statistics Quarterly" 21, 15–22.
	(9) Figures are for deaths occurring in the years 1999 to 2003.
	(10) Fewer than 5 deaths
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics

VAT (Further Education Colleges)

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will reduce the level at which further education colleges pay VAT to the same level as that applicable to the school sector.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 1 February 2005, Official Report, column 762W to the hon. Member for Aylesbury (Mr. Lidington).

London Commuters

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the (a) passengers in excess of capacity and (b) total number of passengers figure was (i) for each London commuting service train operator and (ii) in total, broken down into (A) am peak and (B) pm peak figures measured in the annual survey in 2004; and what the number was of peak passengers into London for (1) am peak periods, (2) pm peak periods and (3) in total for each London commuting service train operator.

Tony McNulty: The results of the autumn 2004 counts are not yet available. The results of the autumn 2003 counts are shown in the following table. The "Passengers In Excess of Capacity" (PIXC) mechanism monitors services into London in the morning peak and out of London in the evening peak.
	
		
			  Am peak PM peak 
			 Operator Load PIXC (percentage) Load PIXC (percentage) PIXC total (am and pm) (percentage) 
		
		
			 Chiltern 9,191 3.3 8,157 0.8 2.1 
			 South Central 69,127 4.7 52,083 1.1 3.1 
			 Connex South Eastern 118,162 3.1 92,048 0.5 2.0 
			 Great Eastern 49,739 2.1 46,358 2.1 2.1 
			 c2c 26,643 1.3 23,619 0.6 1.0 
			 Silverlink 19,824 6.0 17,395 2.1 4.2 
			 South West Trains 81,670 7.4 70,373 2.8 5.2 
			 Thames 11,054 2.0 8,977 0.9 1.5 
			 Thameslink 27,131 2.3 23,218 2.7 2.5 
			 WAGN 47,367 1.5 43,003 1.3 1.4 
			 Total 459,908 3.8 385,231 1.5 2.7

Departmental Costs

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of staff surveys in the Department was in each year since 1997.

Fiona Mactaggart: Staff surveys are regularly undertaken within the Home Office to assist understanding of organisational issues and pressures. External survey professionals are used to conduct these surveys and historical trends are evaluated. These surveys have the benefit of concentrating the department's efforts on issues which are considered to be problems by its staff. The cost of conducting the staff survey in the Department are set out in the table.
	
		
			   £ 
			  1997 1999 2000 2001 2003 2004 
		
		
			 Non-Agency Home Office Cost not available Cost not available Cost not available 120,475 No survey 75,459 
			 Prison Service No survey No survey 30,000 40,000 47,700 (13)23,000 
			 United Kingdom Passport Service No survey 22,150 No survey 22,250 35,904 No survey 
			 Forensic Science Service No survey No survey 12,619 10,175 16,050 8,490 
		
	
	(13) This is the estimated cost of the 2004 survey. The reduction in cost can be attributed primarily from the transfer from a paper based survey to an electronically disseminated questionnaire.

Departmental Policies

Peter Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to Burnley constituency, the effects on Burnley of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Government have put in place policies in the areas of crime reduction, antisocial behaviour, policing and active communities that are yielding considerable benefits for the Burnley constituency, as well as for all parts of the UK.
	For example, between March 1997 and March 2004, the number of police officers in the Lancashire police force increased by 332 from 3,247 to 3,579. The Government's introduction of community support officers (CSOs) in 2002 has put 117 CSOs on Lancashire police force streets to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour. Between 1997 and 2003–04, Lancashire police force area has seen a reduction in recorded domestic burglary crimes of 41 per cent. and in recorded vehicle crimes of 39 per cent.
	Lancashire police will receive £190.8 million in general grants for 2005–06, an increase of 4.31 per cent. (£7.9 million) over last year. Lancashire police also gains around £0.4 million from the amending report for 2003–04, bringing the overall increase to 4.52 per cent. General grants funding to Lancashire has increased by 29.9 per cent. between 1997–98 and 2005–06. In addition to general grants, Lancashire will also receive around £17.4 million in specific grants funding for targeted initiatives and capital provision in 2005–06. The distribution of resources locally is a matter for the police authority and the chief constable.
	As crime prevention requires action across communities, every area has had a local crime and disorder reduction partnership (CDRP) since 1998 which brings together the police, health services, drugs agencies and council and community representatives to decide how to prevent and deter crime and antisocial behaviour.
	The Crime Reduction Programme (CRP) was a pioneering government intervention programme which ran for three years from April 1999 in England and Wales and took an evidence-based approach to crime reduction. Grants of over £340 million were allocated to over 1,470 projects, including CCTV, under 20 initiatives that formed part of the programme. One CCTV project in the Burnley CDRP area received a total of £426,000 from the CRP.
	Since 2001, successive initiatives have provided direct funding to each of the 376 crime and disorder reduction Partnerships in England and Wales. These initiatives include Communities Against Drugs, the Safer Communities Initiative, the Small Retailers in Deprived Areas scheme and the Building Safer Communities Fund. Since 2001, a total of £760,658 has been allocated to Burnley CDRP under these initiatives. A further £2.3 million has been provided over the two years 2003–04 and 2004–05 to the Home Office regional director in the north west for CDRP capacity building across the region.
	It is estimated that out of a million active offenders, 100,000 have three or more convictions and are responsible for half of all crime. There is a Prolific and other Priority Offenders (PPO) scheme in Burnley set up to target those offenders who cause a disproportionate amount of crime, disorder and antisocial behaviour in the community.
	The Government's crime reduction website provides further information on the work being done to reduce crime across the country, including information about action and results in local areas. It is available at http://www.crimereduction.gov.uk.
	New legislation has given local agencies a raft of powers, from antisocial behaviour orders to local dispersal orders and crack house closure powers, to work with local people to tackle antisocial behaviour and nuisance. In Burnley a total of 51 antisocial behaviour orders have been issued as of 10 February 2005. Local contacts for tackling antisocial behaviour can be found on http://www.together.gov.uk/authority.asp.
	Tackling Drug Misuse is a priority of this Government and their policy is set out in the 10 year National Drug Strategy launched in 1998 and updated in December 2002. (A copy of the Updated Drug Strategy 2002 is held in the Library.) Under this, the Government have invested substantially in measures to reduce the harms caused by illegal drugs, focussing on the four strands of:
	reducing the supply of illegal drugs;
	preventing young people from becoming problematic drug users;
	providing effective treatment to all who need it; and
	reducing drug-related crime.
	Direct annual funding nationally to tackle drug misuse amounted to £1,244 million in 2003–04, rising to £1,344 million in 2004–05. Burnley has seen a significant increase in direct funding for tackling drugs, in particular for drug treatment services and the throughcare and aftercare elements of the Drugs Intervention Programme. In 2003–04 the allocation for Lancashire Drug Action Team amounted to £5.47 million, rising to £7.61 million in 2004–05. Details of action taken to tackle drugs in the Burnley constituency can be obtained from the Lancashire Drugs Action Team, for contact details see http://www.drugs.gov.uk/Links/DrugActionTeams.
	The Government are working to ensure that citizens, communities and the voluntary sector are more fully engaged in tackling social problems, and there is more equality of opportunity and respect for people of all races and religions. Active community participation in England has increased by 1.5 million people between 2001 and 2003. Charities have been supported more effectively, and £125 million is being invested across the country through the "futurebuilders" fund in voluntary and community organisations that help provide valuable public services. Advice on ways to engage local people in helping their communities is available on the Active Citizenship Centre website http://www.active-citizen.org.uk.
	The Home Office allocated £305,000 community support team funding (2002–04) for Burnley borough council. This funding covered four strands of work: leadership and change management (focusing on training and capacity building for members and officers) as well as providing managerial support, consultation and communications, youth and conflict resolution and race and community relations work.
	To support strong and active communities in which people of all races and backgrounds are valued, the Home Office funded a Community Cohesion Pathfinder in East Lancashire for 18 months ending September 2004. Burnley borough council was one of five authorities that made up the East Lancashire Pathfinder (known as East Lanes Together—ELT). The other areas included in this were Pendle, Rossendale, Lancashire county council and Hyndburn.
	ELT, for example, set up three different funding streams, which together distributed £275,000 to over 40 bodies and produced 20 Young Community Champions. Through this work, Community Empowerment Networks have run conflict resolution workshops; schools from very different areas have linked up; and local community groups have run multiracial sports and arts events.
	This year, 2005, is the year of the Volunteer which is being delivered by the Home Office in partnership with Community Service Volunteers and Volunteering England. This will include a whole range of events in local communities across the country that aim to celebrate the contribution which volunteers make to the quality of people's lives, and encourage more people to volunteer. We are particularly keen to encourage young people, black and minority ethnic groups, those with no qualifications and disabled people to get involved. More details can be found at www.yearofthevolunteer.org .
	Detailed information on the impact of Home Office policies across the full range of responsibilities is set out in the Home Office annual report and in the strategic plan for 2004–08, available on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk.

Departmental Policies

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to Huddersfield constituency, the effects on Huddersfield of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Government have put in place policies in the areas of crime reduction, antisocial behaviour, policing and active communities that are yielding considerable benefits for the Huddersfield constituency, as well as for all parts of the UK.
	For example, between March 1997 and March 2004, the number of police officers in the West Yorkshire police force increased by 104 from 5,209 to 5,313. The Government's introduction of community support officers (CSOs) in 2002 has put 298 CSOs on West Yorkshire streets to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour. Between 1997 and 2003–04, West Yorkshire has seen a reduction in recorded domestic burglary crimes of 23 per cent. and in recorded vehicle crimes of 6 per cent.
	West Yorkshire police will receive £313.6 million in general grants for 2005–06, an increase of 4.95 per cent. (£14.7 million) over 2004–05. West Yorkshire police also gains around £0.6 million from the amending report for 2003–04, bringing the overall increase to 5.15 per cent. General grants funding to West Yorkshire has increased by 31.7 per cent. between 1997–98 and 2005–06. In addition to general grants, West Yorkshire will also receive around £26.1 million in specific grants funding for targeted initiatives and capital provision in 2005–06. The distribution of resources locally is a matter for the police authority and the chief constable.
	As crime prevention requires action across communities, every area has had a local crime and disorder reduction partnership (CDRP) since 1998 which brings together the police, health services, drugs agencies and council and community representatives to decide how to prevent and deter crime and antisocial behaviour.
	The Crime Reduction Programme (CRP) was a pioneering government intervention programme which ran for three years from April 1999 in England and Wales and took an evidence-based approach to crime reduction. Grants of over £340 million were allocated to over 1,470 projects, including CCTV, under 20 initiatives that formed part of the programme. Four CCTV projects in the Kirklees CDRP area (which includes Huddersfield constituency) received a total of £438,650 from the CRP.
	Since 2001, successive initiatives have provided direct funding to each of the 376 crime and disorder reduction partnerships in England and Wales. These initiatives include Communities Against Drugs, the Safer Communities Initiative, the Small Retailers in Deprived Areas scheme and the Building Safer Communities Fund. Since 2001, a total of £2.07 million has been allocated to Kirklees CDRP under these initiatives. A further £1.8 million has been provided over the two years 2003–04 and 2004–05 to the Home Office regional director in the Yorkshire and the Humber for CDRP capacity building across the region.
	It is estimated that out of a million active offenders, 100,000 have three or more convictions and are responsible for half of all crime. There is a Prolific and other Priority Offenders (PPO) scheme in Kirklees set up to target those offenders who cause a disproportionate amount of crime, disorder and antisocial behaviour in the community.
	The Government's crime reduction website provides further information on the work being done to reduce crime across the country, including information about action and results in local areas. It is available at http://www.crimereduction.gov.uk.
	New legislation has given local agencies a raft of powers, from antisocial behaviour orders to local dispersal orders and crack house closure powers, to work with local people to tackle antisocial behaviour and nuisance. In Kirklees a total of 66 antisocial behaviour orders have been issued as of 21 February 2005. Kirklees is also one of 50 communities across the country that have been designated as 'Together Action Areas' and are set to get extra help to tackle antisocial behaviour. Local contacts for tackling antisocial behaviour can be found on http://www.together.gov.uk/authority.asp.
	Tackling Drug Misuse is a priority of this Government and their policy is set out in the 10 year National Drug Strategy launched in 1998 and updated in December 2002. (A copy of the Updated Drug Strategy 2002 is held in the Library.) Under this, the Government have invested substantially in measures to reduce the harms caused by illegal drugs, focusing on the four strands of:
	reducing the supply of illegal drugs;
	preventing young people from becoming problematic drug users;
	providing effective treatment to all who need it; and
	reducing drug-related crime.
	Direct annual funding nationally to tackle drug misuse amounted to £1,244 million in 2003–04, rising to £1,344 million in 2004–05. Kirklees has seen a significant increase in direct funding for tackling drugs, in particular for drug treatment services and the throughcare and aftercare elements of the Drugs Intervention Programme. In 2003–04 the allocation for Kirklees Drug Action Team amounted to £2.32 million, rising to £3.06 million in 2004–05. Details of action taken to tackle drugs in Huddersfield constituency can be obtained from the Kirklees Drugs Action Team, for contact details see http://www.drugs.gov.uk/Links/DrugActionTeams.
	The Government are working to ensure that citizens, communities and the voluntary sector are more fully engaged in tackling social problems, and there is more equality of opportunity and respect for people of all races and religions. Active community participation in England has increased by 1.5 million people between 2001 and 2003. Charities have been supported more effectively, and £125 million is being invested across the country through the futurebuilders fund in voluntary and community organisations that help provide valuable public services. Advice on ways to engage local people in helping their communities is available on the Active Citizenship Centre website http://www.active-citizen.org.uk.
	To support strong and active communities in which people of all races and backgrounds are valued, in 2003 the Home Office allocated from the Connecting Communities Fund a total of £590,000 to two, three-year projects in the Kirklees area. A Voluntary Action Kirklees project (grant £338,812) is supporting the development of Asian women's networks to promote greater community involvement from Asian women. Outcomes include partnership work with South Asian Healthy Living to run a confidence project and fitness training programmes. A Kirklees Racial Equality Council project (grant £251,718) is being launched in April 2005 and will see a series of seven faith resource centres, reflecting the major faiths, set up across Kirklees, with books, displays and other information materials. The centres will provide a unique educational experience for local school children and others wishing to learn more about faiths and cultures within Kirklees.
	Kirklees has also benefited from participation in the 18-month Community Cohesion Pathfinder Programme, established and launched in 2002 by the Home Office and the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Kirklees was one of 14 successful Pathfinders and was granted £285,000 to explore the best ways of building strong, active, and harmonious communities. Key outcomes from the programme included the 'Learning Lessons' report, which, by establishing what levels of community cohesion already existed, provided a basis for moving forward; and the "Stories in a suitcase" project, which encouraged people over 50 in the community to create a story board reflecting where they had come from. This project was popular with both white and Asian residents living in Kirklees and helped change local perceptions about the differences between community groups.
	This year, 2005, is the year of the Volunteer which is being delivered by the Home Office in partnership with Community Service Volunteers and Volunteering England. This will include a whole range of events in local communities across the country that aim to celebrate the contribution which volunteers make to the quality of people's lives, and encourage more people to volunteer. We are particularly keen to encourage young people, black and minority ethnic groups, those with no qualifications and disabled people to get involved. More details can be found at www.yearofthevolunteer.org.
	Detailed information on the impact of Home Office policies across the full range of responsibilities is set out in the Home Office Annual Report and in the Strategic Plan for 2004–08, available on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk.

Departmental Policies

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to Pendle constituency, the effects on Pendle of his Department's policies and activities since 2 May 1997.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Government has put in place policies in the areas of crime reduction, antisocial behaviour, policing and active communities that are yielding considerable benefits for the Pendle constituency, as well as for all parts of the UK.
	For example, between March 1997 and March 2004, the number of police officers in the Lancashire Police Force increased by 332 from 3,247 to 3,579. The Government's introduction of community support officers (CSOs) in 2002 has put 117 CSOs on Lancashire's streets to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour. Between 1997 and 2003–04, Lancashire CDRP has seen a reduction in recorded domestic burglary crimes of 41 per cent. and in recorded vehicle crimes of 39 per cent.
	Lancashire Police will receive £190.8 million in general grants for 2005–06, an increase of 4.31 per cent. (£7.9 million) over last year. Lancashire Police also gains around £0.4 million from the Amending Report for 2003–04, bringing the overall increase to 4.52 per cent. General grants funding to Lancashire has increased by 29.9 per cent. between 1997–98 and 2005–06. In addition to general grants, Lancashire will also receive around £17.4 million in specific grants funding for targeted initiatives and capital provision in 2005–06. The distribution of resources locally is a matter for the police authority and the chief constable.
	As crime prevention requires action across communities, every area has had a local Crime and Disorder reduction Partnership (CDRP) since 1998 which brings together the police, health services, drugs agencies and council and community representatives to decide how to prevent and deter crime and antisocial behaviour.
	The Crime Reduction Programme (CRP) was a pioneering Government intervention programme which ran for three years from April 1999 in England and Wales and took an evidence-based approach to crime reduction. Grants of over £340 million were allocated to over 1,470 projects, including CCTV, under 20 initiatives that formed part of the programme. One CCTV project in the Pendle CDRP area, which includes the Pendle constituency, received a total of £201,000 from the CRP.
	Since 2001, successive initiatives have provided direct funding to each of the 376 Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships in England and Wales. These initiatives include Communities Against Drugs, the Safer Communities Initiative, the Small Retailers in Deprived Areas scheme and the Building Safer Communities Fund. Since 2001, a total of £543,187 has been allocated to Pendle CDRP under these initiatives. A further £2.3 million has been provided over the two years 2003–04 and 2004–05 to the Home Office Regional Director in the North West for CDRP capacity building across the region.
	It is estimated that out of a million active offenders, 100,000 have three or more convictions and are responsible for half of all crime. There is a Prolific and other Priority Offenders (PPO) scheme in Pendle set up to target those offenders who cause a disproportionate amount of crime, disorder and antisocial behaviour in the community.
	The Government's crime reduction website provides further information on the work being done to reduce crime across the country, including information about action and results in local areas. It is available at http://www.crimereduction.gov.uk.
	New legislation has given local agencies a raft of powers, from antisocial behaviour orders to local dispersal orders and crack house closure powers, to work with local people to tackle antisocial behaviour and nuisance. In Pendle a total of 16 antisocial behaviour orders have been issued as of 22 February 2005. Local contacts for tackling antisocial behaviour can be found on http://www.together.gov.uk/authority.asp
	Tackling Drug Misuse is a priority of this Government and its policy is set out in the 10 year National Drug Strategy launched in 1998 and updated in December 2002. (A copy of the Updated Drug Strategy 2002 is held in the Library.) Under this, the Government have invested substantially in measures to reduce the harms caused by illegal drugs, focussing on the four strands of:
	reducing the supply of illegal drugs;
	preventing young people from becoming problematic drug users;
	providing effective treatment to all who need it; and
	reducing drug-related crime.
	Direct annual funding nationally to tackle drug misuse amounted to £1,244 million in 2003–04, rising to £1,344 million in 2004–05. Pendle has seen a significant increase in direct funding for tackling drugs, in particular for drug treatment services and the throughcare and aftercare elements of the Drugs Intervention Programme. In 2003–04 the allocation for Lancashire Drug Action Team amounted to £5.47 million, rising to £7.61 million in 2004–05. Details of action taken to tackle drugs in the Pendle constituency can be obtained from the Lancashire Drugs Action Team, for contact details see http://www.drugs.gov.uk/Links/DrugActionTeams
	The Government is working to ensure that citizens, communities and the voluntary sector are more fully engaged in tackling social problems, and there is more equality of opportunity and respect for people of all races and religions. Active community participation in England has increased by 1.5 million people between 2001 and 2003. Charities have been supported more effectively, and £125 million is being invested across the country through the "futurebuilders" fund in voluntary and community organisations that help provide valuable public services. Advice on ways to engage local people in helping their communities is available on the Active Citizenship Centre website http://www.active-citizen.org.uk
	To support strong and active communities in which people of all races and backgrounds are valued, the Home Office funded a Community Cohesion Pathfinder in East Lancashire for 18 months ending September 2004. Pendle borough council was one of five authorities that made up the East Lancashire Pathfinder (known as East Lanes Together—ELT). The other areas included in this were Burnley, Rossendale, Lancashire county council and Hyndburn. ELT, for example, set up three different funding streams, which together distributed £275,000 to over 40 bodies and produced 20 Young Community Champions. Through this work, Community Empowerment Networks have run conflict resolution workshops; schools from very different areas have linked up; and local community groups have run multiracial sports and arts events.
	This year, 2005, is the year of the Volunteer which is being delivered by the Home Office in partnership with Community Service Volunteers and Volunteering England. This will include a whole range of events in local communities across the country that aim to celebrate the contribution which volunteers make to the quality of people's lives, and encourage more people to volunteer. We are particularly keen to encourage young people, black and minority ethnic groups, those with no qualifications and disabled people to get involved. More details can be found at www.yearofthevolunteer.org
	Detailed information on the impact of Home Office policies across the full range of responsibilities is set out in the Home Office Annual Report and in the Strategic Plan for 2004–08, available on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk

Entry Clearance (Students)

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many student applications for entry clearance from (a) the Indian sub-continent, (b) Africa, (c) the United States, (d) Canada, (e) Australia and (f) New Zealand there were in (i) 2002, (ii) 2003 and (iii) 2004; how many were (A) granted and (B) refused; how many successful appeals there were against refusal; when he introduced fees for in-country variation of leave for students; and what assessment he has made of the reasons for the change in the number of students coming to the UK between 2002 and 2003.

Chris Mullin: I have been asked to reply.
	The information on student applications for entry clearance, which are issued and refused for the specified areas, is as follows:
	
		
			   April 2001 to March 2002 April 2002 to March 2003 April 2003 to March 2004 
			  Visas Issued Refused Issued Refused Issued Refused 
		
		
			 (a) Indian Sub-Continent(14) 16,192 10,502 18,808 14,331 29,409 25,827 
			 (b) Africa 19,864 8,978 20,551 14,363 19,312 20,501 
			 (c) US 658 6 699 8 1,917 33 
			 (d) Canada 219 1 294 1 612 3 
			 (e) Australia 363 2 355 1 412 2 
			 (f) New Zealand 74 5 62 7 78 20 
		
	
	(14) Comprised of Chennai (Madras), Colombo, Dhaka, Islamabad, Karachi, Kathmandu, Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay), New Delhi.
	Figures for April 2004 to March 2005 are not yet available. When they are, they can be found, along with further entry clearance statistics, on the UKvisas website at www.ukvisas.gov.uk—"Entry Clearance: Facts and Figures". The figures provided represent pre-entry applications and show a general increase in issues and refusals. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not have figures detailing the number of successful appeals that were made against decisions to refuse entry clearance.
	The Home Office introduced fees for in-country leave to remain applications in August 2003. A joint project undertaken recently by the Home Office, the Department for Education and Skills, and the British Council includes an assessment of the impact of the charges on the numbers of international students coming to the UK (see particularly Sections 5 and 6 of the report). The report was published on the Home Office website on 7 February 2005 and is available at www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk (Link through "News"—to "Press Releases and Announcements"—to "2005 IND Fee Review"—to "Improving the Evidence on International Students").

Departmental Costs

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the cost of producing a staff identity pass was in the Department on the latest date for which figures are available; and how many staff identity passes have been reported lost or stolen in each year since 1997.

Anne McGuire: The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999. Staff identity passes for the Office are produced by the Scottish Executive and separate costs of production are not available. Details of passes lost or stolen are only available from January 2003; the information is as follows:
	
		
			 Period Lost Stolen 
		
		
			 2002–03(15) 1 0 
			 2003–04 3 1 
		
	
	(15) Part year only.

Gaelic Language

Alan Reid: To ask the Advocate-General what her Department's policy is on the use of the Gaelic language; and what plans her Department has to prepare and implement a Gaelic language scheme.

Lynda Clark: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given today by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Scotland Office.

Waste

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the status is of the review of co-ordination of interdepartmental responsibility for waste policy and the possible establishment of a strategic waste authority; and what plans there are to publish the review findings.

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what has been the outcome of the review conducted by his office of the scope for improving the co-ordination of interdepartmental responsibilities for waste policy; and what plans he has for its publication.

David Miliband: The Strategy Unit's report "Waste not Want Not: a Strategy for Tackling the Waste Problem in England" concluded that there should be a review to assess the merits of focusing all central government's waste policy in one Department. The Cabinet Office was invited by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs to conduct this review. The conclusions of the review will be published in due course.

Alcohol-related Emergencies

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) binge drinking and (b) other alcohol-related emergency cases there were in hospitals in (a) England and (b) Romford and Havering in the last period for which figures are available.

Stephen Ladyman: This data is held collectively by counts of finished admission episodes for in-patients for alcohol-related cases where the admission method was emergency. Figures for binge drinking are not held centrally.
	The table shows data for finished admission episodes in England and Barking, Havering and Redbridge hospitals national health service trust, which operates in Romford and Havering.
	
		Count of finished admission episodes (alcohol-related(16))—NHS hospitals in England 2003–04
		
			   Finished admission episodes 
		
		
			 RF4 Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust 563 
			  England 103,918 
		
	
	(16) ICD-10 codes = "alcohol-related" as advised by NHS Information Authority clinical coding service. Counts include any of the records where the following listed codes are recorded in the primary or secondary field.
	Primary diagnosis:
	F10—Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol.
	R78.0—Finding of alcohol in blood.
	T51.0—Ethanol.
	Secondary diagnosis:
	F10—Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol.
	R78.0—Finding of alcohol in blood.
	X45—Alcohol poisoning and exposure to alcohol.
	Y90—Evidence of alcohol involvement determined by alcohol level.
	Notes:
	1. A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
	2. The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (seven prior to 2002–03) diagnosis fields in the hospital episode statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.
	3. As well as the primary diagnosis, there are up to 13 (six prior to 2002–03) secondary diagnosis fields in HES that show other diagnoses relevant to the episode of care.
	4. Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).
	Source:
	HES, Department of Health.

Ambulance Service

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he issues about the number of ambulances per head of population that should be on call at any one time.

Rosie Winterton: No recent guidance has been issued about the number of ambulances per head of population that should be on call at any one time.
	Each ambulance service should plan to provide appropriate resources to meet local demand. This may include resources in addition to ambulance provision, for example using community paramedics or emergency care practitioners.
	The "Ambulance improvement checklist" includes a section on information management, which refers for example to; matching supply and demand on an hourly basis by good use of information and establishing systems to analyse and predict demand and resulting capacity requirement throughout the trust on a dynamic basis. The checklist is intended as an aid to all national health service ambulance trusts and their staff to ensure that all possible steps are being taken to improve and streamline the care of patients presenting to emergency care, and is available on the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/05/07/60/04050760.pdf.

Cardiac Care (Essex)

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cardiac-related emergency cases have been treated in hospitals in Romford and Havering in each year since 1997.

Stephen Ladyman: A count of finished consultant episodes for in-patients for cardiac-related operations where the admission method was emergency at Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals National Health Service Trust is shown in the table. The trust operates in Romford and Havering.
	Counts do not include those elective patients who undergo an emergency treatment.
	
		Count of finished consultant episodes for selected providers. Method of admission—emergency. Main operation—heart operations defined as OPCS-4 between K01 to K71. NHS Hospitals in England 1996–97 to 2003–04
		
			  RG4 Redbridge Healthcare NHS Trust RG7 Havering Healthcare NHS Trust RF4 Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust Total 
		
		
			 1996–97 48 74 — 122 
			 1997–98 46 55 — 100 
			 1998–99 52 62 — 114 
			 1999–2000 65 40 — 105 
			 2000–01 54 20 — 74 
			 2001–02 — — 97 97 
			 2002–03 — — 82 82 
			 2003–04 — — 208 208 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. A finished consultant episode is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that the figures do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the year.
	2. Figures are grossed for both coverage and missing/invalid clinical data, except for 2002–03 and 2003–04, which are not yet adjusted for shortfalls.
	3. The main operation is the first recorded operation in the hospital episode statistics (HES) data set and is usually the most resource intensive procedure performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main operation when looking at admission details, eg time waited, but the figures for "all operations count of episodes" give a more complete count of episodes with an operation.
	Source:
	HES, Department of Health.

International Recruitment

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many private sector healthcare providers have signed up to the NHS Code of Practice for the international recruitment of healthcare professionals; and how many private sector healthcare providers there are.

John Hutton: The Code of Practice for international recruitment of healthcare professionals has been signed up to by both the Independent Healthcare Forum and the Registered Nursing Home Association. Both these organisations represent many independent healthcare providers. The number and names of these providers is not collated by the Department.
	Data related to the number of independent sector healthcare providers is not held centrally by the Department.

Naltrexone

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if his Department will conduct trials of the use of low-dose naltrexone in the treatment of multiple sclerosis; and if he will make a statement on its availability on the NHS;
	(2)  what trials have taken place of low dose Naltrexone (LDN) for the treatment of multiple sclerosis; and if he will make a statement on the availability on the NHS of LDN for sufferers of MS.

Stephen Ladyman: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, which is responsible for ensuring that all new medicines and medical devices sold in the United Kingdom meet appropriate standards of safety, quality and efficacy, is unaware of any clinical trials having taken place in the United Kingdom using low-dose naltrexone in the treatment of multiple sclerosis. It is aware that a small trial, funded by a charity, is under consideration.
	In the UK, naltrexone is currently only licensed for the treatment of opiate dependency. Nevertheless, there is provision in both UK and European legislation, which allows doctors to prescribe, on their own direct personal responsibility, a specially prepared medicinal product for administration on a "named patient" basis where they consider it necessary to meet a special clinical need.

NHS Funding

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his oral statement of 9 February 2005, Official Report, columns 1503–1518, on NHS funding, what the total expenditure on the National Programme for IT in England by (a) the Department and (b) primary care trusts will be in each financial year from 2003–04 to 2007–08.

John Hutton: The Department's actual/planned expenditure on the national programme for information technology for the years in question is shown in the table. The figures are on a resource accounting basis and therefore include the cost of capital charges and depreciation of fixed assets.
	
		
			  Amount (£ million) 
		
		
			 2003–04 102 
			 2004–05 404 
			 2005–06 1,873 
			 2006–07 1,968 
			 2007–08 1,796 
		
	
	Estimates for primary care trust expenditure are not held centrally.

NHS Performance

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the URL on his Department's website which allows users to view the guide to NHS performance in each parliamentary constituency.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 10 February 2005
	The Department publishes on its website information on national health service organisations, which includes some performance data. This information is in the form of NHS factsheets, which can be viewed by NHS region and by parliamentary constituency. The URL is: www.dh.gov.uk/nhsfact sheets.
	NHS factsheets are internal Departmental briefing sheets on individual strategic health authorities and NHS trusts. They contain organisational information, contact details and selected published statistical information. NHS factsheets are updated regularly.
	The Department first published these factsheets on its website on 3 December 2004 as part of the Departments commitment to openness under Freedom of Information. They have been available to anybody willing to access the website since then.

Obesity Clinics (West Midlands)

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many obesity clinics there are in the West Midlands region; and what the waiting times were for those clinics in the latest year for which figures are available.

Stephen Ladyman: There is one national health service obesity clinic and one NHS child obesity clinic in the West Midlands. Both are at Heartlands hospital, part of the Birmingham Heartlands and Solihull NHS Trust.
	Waiting times data for obesity clinics is not held centrally.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the report of the Health Protection Agency on infection rates for respiratory syncytial virus; and if he will take steps to ensure that a higher priority is given to preventive treatment for the virus in premature babies.

Melanie Johnson: The Department receives weekly updates on respiratory syncytial virus incidence from the Health Protection Agency. Recommendations on the use of paluvizumab were made by the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation at its November 2002 meeting. Details can be found on the Department's website at: www.advisorybodies.doh. gov.uk/icvi/mins01nov02.htm.

Disposal Services Agency

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much of its personnel budget for financial years (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04 the Disposal Services Agency spent in Scotland (i) in monetary terms and (ii) as a percentage of the total personnel budget; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The figures are as follows:
	
		
			   Financial year Personnel costs for DSA staff based in Scotland (£000) Expressed as a percentage of total DSA personnel costs 
		
		
			 2002–03 100 2.8 
			 2003–04 124 3.3

Trident

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether commanders of UK Trident submarines are empowered to launch a nuclear missile in circumstances other than with the express authority of the Prime Minister.

Geoff Hoon: As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister made clear in the answer he gave on 28 January 2003, Official Report, column 774W, to the hon. Member for
	Shrewsbury and Atcham (Mr. Marsden), the use of the United Kingdom's nuclear weapons may be ordered only by the Prime Minister.

Cannabis

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the impact that the reclassification of cannabis has had in Northern Ireland.

Paul Murphy: The Government conducted a survey of statutory organisations, including the police, together with the community and voluntary sector, in April/May 2004 after the reclassification of cannabis from Class B to Class C to assess the impact of this change.
	While the level of response from the various agencies was disappointing, the general view was that reclassification had had little impact on overall attitudes towards cannabis, both among young people and adults. There was no evidence to suggest that consumption had increased or that adults and young people were more open about their use of cannabis. There was however, a view that young people did not fully understand all the various terminology such as "reclassification", "de-criminalisation" and "legalisation".
	Statistics from PSNI indicate that the number of prosecutions taken against younger people for possession of cannabis ( both actual and pending) has not reduced since reclassification. While separate figures are not kept in relation to adults, there was a small reduction in the number of arrests for possession of Class C drugs, in the three months after reclassification when compared to the three months prior to this change in status.
	As this legislative change took place over 12 months ago officials are currently preparing to undertake a further assessment of the impact.

Energy Efficiency

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been spent on (a) the Domestic Energy Efficiency Scheme, (b) fuel poverty pilot projects, (c) the Warm Homes Scheme, (d) the Energy Efficiency Levy Programme, (e) winter fuel payments and (f) cold weather payments in each financial year since 1997–98.

John Spellar: The level of expenditure in each financial year since 1997 on all such schemes is:
	
		
			   £ 
			  The Domestic Energy Efficiency Scheme Fuel Poverty Pilot Projects The Warm Homes Scheme The Energy Efficiency Levy Programme Winter Fuel Payments Cold Weather Payments 
		
		
			 1997–98 2,545,677 0 0 0 5,700,000 0 
			 1998–99 2,582,627 75,000 0 0 5,800,000 0 
			 1999–2000 2,629,238 1,060,000 0 1,003,068 24,000,000 0 
			 2000–01 2,604,302 500,000 0 1,190,132 56,000,000 1,650,000 
			 2001–02 0 800,000 5,200,000 1,433,495 42,000,000 260,000 
			 2002–03 0 500,000 7,952,000 3,043,063 42,700,000 260,000 
			 2003–04 0 480,000 10,650,000 3,938,905 43,000,000 620,000 
			 2004–05(21) 0 279,600 11,850,000 n/a 19,072,100 n/a 
		
	
	(21) The total spend for winter fuel payments and the NIE Energy Efficiency Levy Programme are not yet available for this financial year.

Hospital Travel Costs Scheme

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will change the rules of the hospital travel costs scheme in Northern Ireland to enable cancer sufferers to reclaim the costs of travel to hospital.

Angela Smith: Patients who are also in receipt of certain state benefits, or are on a low income, may be entitled to reimbursement of hospital travel costs. Details are given in leaflet HC 11: "Are you entitled to help with health costs?"
	The present scheme is directed towards those patients who do not have a medical need for ambulance transport, but who have difficulty meeting the cost of travel to hospital. It is not considered appropriate under such a scheme, which is based on financial need, to differentiate between patients with different medical conditions. The Department has no plans to amend the current hospital travel costs scheme to enable all cancer sufferers, by virtue of their illness, to recover the cost of travel to and from hospital.
	The new cancer centre in Belfast city hospital, which is due to open in 2006, will include a patient hotel with 29 rooms, where cancer patients will be able to stay free of charge. Relatives will also be able to stay for a small fee. This should help reduce the amount of travelling required by some patients during their treatment cycles, with a consequent reduction in costs.

Small Businesses

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many businesses that employ 60 people or fewer there are in each Northern Ireland constituency; how many people are employed by such small businesses in total; and how many new small businesses have been created in each year since 2000.

Stephen Timms: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Roy Beggs, dated 2 March 2005
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning the number of businesses that employ 60 people or fewer in each Northern Ireland constituency; how many people are employed by such small businesses in total; and how many new small businesses have been created in each year since 2000. (218310)
	The latest period for which the total number of small businesses is available is March 2004. The data requested are shown in Table 1, which I am placing in the House of Commons Library.
	Further information about the number of businesses in the United Kingdom is available from the National Statistics publication "UK Business: Activity, Size and Location—2004" available free of charge on the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pal003
	The numbers of small business creations for each year between 2000 and 2003 are shown in Table 2, which I am placing in the House of Commons Library.
	The figures presented here differ slightly from those published by the Small Business Service (SBS), as adjustments for birth lags have been applied only to the published data.
	For further information on business start-ups please see the National Statistics publication "VAT Registrations and De-registrations: Business Start-ups and Closures" available free of charge on the SBS website at: http://www.sbs.gov.uk/statistics/vatstats.php
	All figures have been rounded to the nearest five to avoid disclosure. This means that totals may not necessarily equal the sum of the data in columns, and counts of less than three will be shown as zero. Where counts and employment are released, all figures based on a count of less than 20 must have employment estimates replaced with an asterisk and other employment estimates must be suppressed to ensure that there is no disclosure by difference.
	The employment data relate mainly to the 2001 Census of Employment updated for more recent creations and closures.

Fire Service Emergency Response

Iain Wright: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average response time of the fire service to 999 calls was in (a) Hartlepool and (b) England and Wales in each year since 1997.

Nick Raynsford: The available information covers fire and rescue service response to primary fires (involving property, casualties or rescues) in England and Wales and Cleveland. Details of response times on other incidents attended by the fire and rescue service are not available centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.Response times for primary fires are collected at fire and rescue authority level, so separate information covering Hartlepool is not available centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		Average fire and rescue service response times (primary fires) 1997–2003 
		
			  Minutes 
			  England and Wales Cleveland 
		
		
			 1997 6.1 4.9 
			 1998 5.9 4.7 
			 1999 6.2 4.9 
			 2000 6.3 4.9 
			 2001 6.3 4.9 
			 2002(23) 6.4 5.2 
			 20031,2 6.6 5.1 
		
	
	(23) Excludes strike periods, November 2002 and January and February 2003.
	(24) Provisional figure.
	Source:
	Fire and Rescue Service FDR1 returns to ODPM.

Meden Valley Partnership

John Mann: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what discussions have taken place between the Meden Valley partnership and (a) Nottinghamshire Mental Health Trust and (b) Mansfield primary care trust about stress-related health problems due to delays in regenerating housing in the Meden Valley;
	(2)  what provision English Partnerships and the East Midlands Development Agency are making for residents who refuse to move and who are not offered refurbished accommodation or low-cost home ownership on completion of the Meden Valley partnership project;
	(3)  whether he expects the guarantee given by his Department, the East Midlands Development Agency and English Partnerships that residents will be able to remain in the Royal Estate and Warsop Vale under the Meden Valley partnership housing regeneration programme to be maintained;
	(4)  what legal opinion has been sought by English Partnerships in relation to compulsory purchase of properties in the Meden Valley;
	(5)  how many repairs orders due to public safety have been issued through the Meden Valley Partnership;
	(6)  how many residents have neither requested to move nor opposed compulsory purchase of their home under the Meden Valley Partnership; and how many of these are over 80 years old;
	(7)  how many residents of the Royal Estate and Warsop Vale have indicated a wish to remain living in their area under the Meden Valley partnership;
	(8)  what meetings have taken place between the Meden Valley partnership and the police about drug dealing and antisocial behaviour in the last two years;
	(9)  how many letters of thanks have been received by the Meden Valley partnership from local residents since its inception;
	(10)  when English Partnerships expects to build new houses in Warsop as part of the Meden Valley partnership;
	(11)  what plans English Partnerships has to meet its commitment to involve residents in the management of housing regeneration projects in Warsop;
	(12)  when and under what authority English Partnerships required means testing for existing tenants to buy new homes in Warsop under the Meden Valley partnership;
	(13)  how much public money has been spent through the Meden Valley partnership;
	(14)  how many homes have been refurbished under the Meden Valley partnership;
	(15)  when an employee of the East Midland Development Agency last entered (a) a house and (b) an area under threat of compulsory purchase from the Meden Valley partnership;
	(16)  when an employee of English Partnerships last entered (a) a house and (b) an area under threat of compulsory purchase from the Meden Valley partnership.

Keith Hill: I promised to write to you in answer to your parliamentary questions regarding the Meden Valley Partnership when my Department had looked closely at the issues you raised.
	On the important issue of improving communication with residents affected by proposals, you will be pleased to hear that the Meden Valley Board intend to appoint a Community Participation Officer to assist with the consultation process, and that in the short-term Leicester Housing Association will provide a secondee to the project. The Meden Valley Board has also confirmed that it will seek to hold monthly meetings with you, if agreeable, to address the concerns raised by your constituents, and the Community Participation Officer will be involved with these meetings. I hope that you will be able to work closely with this officer who will service the Residents Implementation Groups, which I understand you have played a role in forming through chairing the well-attended public meetings in Warsop Vale and on the Royal Estate. The Community Participation Officer will also help to develop an effective communication strategy with residents affected by the scheme.
	I understand that Meden Valley Making Places Ltd are making good progress on the negotiated acquisition of properties, but I can understand the frustration some residents must feel about the length of time to complete the Compulsory Purchase Order process. To mitigate the negative impact of abandonment, Meden Valley Making Places Ltd is prioritising joint working with the Police and Community Safety Officers to help minimise problems for residents who wish to stay.
	On the issue of alternative accommodation, I would support the Meden Valley Making Places Ltd's commitment to assisting homeowners and tenants, affected b redevelopment, to secure alternative accommodation on a like for like basis. I am sure that you would agree with this policy. The various options available to residents can be discussed with either Sarah Streater or Shamus O'Leary (Tel: 01623–847675) at Meden Valley Making Places Ltd.
	I hope that you feel we are moving forward in Meden Valley and driving forward the Government commitment to developing sustainable communities.

European Constitution

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reasoning underlay the decision to describe the treaty establishing a constitution for Europe as the treaty establishing a constitution for the European Union in the question that will be used for the referendum on the constitution.

Christopher Leslie: I have been asked to reply.
	The treaty binds only its signatories, that is, members of the European Union, and not every state geographically in Europe. Although the treaty is said to establish a "Constitution for Europe" it is clear from the very first article that "this Constitution establishes the European Union . . . ". Referring in the question to the "Constitution for the European Union" is likely to be more intelligible to the voter since it reflects more accurately what he or she is being asked to approve.
	The Electoral Commission commented in its assessment of the question on 3 February 2005 that the modification of the title of the treaty in the question does not detract from its overall intelligibility.

Firecrest

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the cost of his Department's new Firecrest contract, with Hewlett-Packard, signed on 16 February.

Bill Rammell: The seven year deal, the largest contract the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has ever signed, will see Hewlett-Packard take on overall responsibility for the FCO's business critical IT infrastructure in partnership with in-house IT providers FCO Services, original developers of the "Firecrest" system. The total cost of the contract over seven years is currently estimated at £320 million based on a contract with Hewlett-Packard UK worth approximately £180 million and FCO internal costs of £140 million, including FCO Services' charges.

Housing allowance

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the findings of the comprehensive evaluation of the local housing allowance pathfinders will be published.

Chris Pond: We published the baseline stage of the evaluation of the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) pathfinders in September 2004. Copies of these reports covering the views and experiences of tenants, landlords, pathfinder local authorities and other stakeholders prior to the start of the Local Housing Allowance scheme, are available in the Library. All these publications can also be found on the DWP's website at www.dwp.gov.uk/housingbenefit/lha/evaluation/index.asp
	Further publications covering the first six months of the new scheme are due to be published during spring 2005. The evaluation will then provide a further series of interim publications, based on experience at the 15 month stage, followed by a final evaluation in 2006.
	The full titles and dates of publications of the reports and summaries published to date are:
	"Evaluating the LHA Pathfinders"
	This introductory paper sets out the policy context for the LHA and the evaluation strategy for the pathfinders (published September 2004)
	"The nine LHA Pathfinder areas: a summary of the baseline position before the introduction of the LHA"
	This sets the scene for the introduction of the policy and provides a benchmark for future reports. It brings together the evidence gathered from the key stakeholders and captures the later stages of the preparation for 'go-live' in the nine authorities (published September 2004)
	"Claiming Housing Benefit in the Private Rented Sector: the baseline experience of claimants in the nine LHA Pathfinder areas"
	This looks in detail at the household, housing and financial characteristics from a survey of housing benefit claimants before the introduction of the LHA (published September 2004)
	"Landlords and Agents in the nine LHA Pathfinder areas: a summary report"
	This provides initial top-line findings from the baseline survey of landlords and letting agents (published September 2004).
	"Landlords and Agents in the private rented sector: the baseline position in the LHA Pathfinders"
	This follows on from the summary and completes the series of reports from the baseline stage of the evaluation. This is the full report of findings from a survey of landlords and agents, carried out prior to the introduction of the LHA (published February 2005).

New Deal for Lone Parents

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people living in Lancashire have gained work through the new deal for lone parents.

Jane Kennedy: 8,060 people in Lancashire have gained work through the new deal for lone parents since the start of the programme in October 1998.
	Data for Lancashire is the total for the Jobcentre Plus districts of East Lancashire and Lancashire West.